The Truth
by corny sloth
Summary: “You'll never love her like I do, Potter.” Spoilers. Oneshot.


**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter, names, characters and indicia are solely JK Rowling's. I do not take credit for any thing you recognize in this story.

**A/N:** If you haven't read Deathly Hallows yet, I warn you now that this story will spoil some of it for you. I repeat, SPOILERS AHEAD.

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**-The Truth-**

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"You said he was an arrogant toerag."

His accusation made her stop in her tracks and stare back at him defensively. "Pardon me?" She retorted, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"You said you hated him, Lily. You said you couldn't and wouldn't stand him, ever. What did he do to you?" He continued, his eyes desperate.

She shook her head. "James Potter didn't do anything to me, Severus. He's changed, he's grown up, he's not the same anymore."

"People don't change, Lily," He stated, his teeth gritted.

"_You_ did," She shot back, and his normally pale face tinged immediately with pink.

"I didn't—" He started but she cut across him.

"You _did._ You changed the moment you chose to hang out with Avery and Mulciber and the other would-be Death Eaters. You changed the moment you started taking interests in the Dark Arts. You changed the moment you called me a Mudblood," She hissed, her bottom lip trembling.

"I – you – I already told you, I didn't mean –"

"Yet you did. We've been through this, Severus. I've stood up for you, I've defended you, I've tried to change you, but nothing worked. We're not – we're not friends anymore," She said, her green eyes bright with tears. "And – and you have no power over me."

She took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair. "I – I've made my decision. I'm going out with James Potter, Severus, and nothing you could say or do will change that."

And then she was walking away from him, and he wished, for once, she would look back at him and see how he was silently begging her to stop, to come back to him, to understand.

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He found her sitting on the shore of the lake, socks off and feet dangling lazily into the water. Her eyes were slightly puffy and red, and he wondered what had happened to her.

"Lily," He whispered and she jumped slightly, a hand to her chest.

"James," She breathed. "You scared me."

He smiled guiltily as he too took off his socks and settled beside her, absentmindedly brushing his feet with hers. "What happened to you?" He asked suddenly and she shook her head, rubbing at her eyes.

"Nothing important," She mumbled.

"You were crying, Lily. Something must have happened," He sighed, turning her face towards his since she had looked away from him. "You know you can tell me anything," He continued, brushing his thumb against her cheek and her eyes closed for a moment.

She took a deep shaky breath and opened her eyes to meet his. "Severus."

It was one whispered word, but it sent an electric shock down James's spine.

He knew that slimy git was involved in this, he knew he tried to convince his Lily not to go out with him, and he knew he had to do something about it.

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"Snape," James bellowed, and Snape froze in his tracks and spun around, his wand at the ready. James rolled his eyes. "Put that wand away or I'll give you a detention," He stated lazily, glancing pointedly down at the gleaming Head Boy badge pinned on his robes.

Still eyeing him warily, Snape slowly returned his wand into his robes' pocket. "What do you want, Potter?" He bit, his eyes full of hatred and abhorrence towards the boy who had ruined everything for him.

"I want you to stay the hell away from Lily Evans," James hissed, taking several threatening steps towards Snape who cowered under his menacing stare and hit the stone wall. James was several inches taller and towered over him forebodingly.

"You can't tell me what to do, Potter. If your girlfriend wants to see me, there's nothing you can do about it," Snape spat in James's face and James laughed sardonically.

"Really? Because my sources tell me that Lily doesn't want to speak to you again," James said and a muscle twitched in Snape's jaw.

"You don't love her!" Snape finally cried and James backed away from him dumbstruck.

"What?!" James asked, scowling, his fingers brushing against his wand in his pocket.

"You don't love her like I do, Potter! You never will. You don't know what it's like being her best friend and not being able to touch her like you do. You don't know how much it tortures me when I see her with you. You don't know how my heart breaks every time I see her smiling at you. You will never understand my love for her.

"She has been there for me through - through my terrible childhood, through all the rough times. She stood up for me every time. She – she's everything to me." His lip trembled and James stared, completely thunderstruck.

It took a few seconds until Snape realized what he had said, and in a moment of desperation, took out his wand and slashed the air, a deep gash appearing on James's cheek. James cried out and pushed himself away from Snape, his hand immediately jumping for his wand, but someone already beat him to it: Snape was hanging upside down, spluttering and cursing for someone to let him down.

James looked around and saw Lily standing there, her wand raised, the expression on her face unreadable.

She approached the two boys, her eyes fixed on the upside down form of Severus Snape. "James, can you leave us alone? I need a word with Severus," She said, her pace determined. James tried to protest but one look from her made him shut up and nod.

Once they were alone, she released Severus who landed in a tangled mess of robes, still cursing obscenities under his breath.

She crouched before him, and he looked up at her, finally registering her presence, and his face heat up immediately under her intense gaze.

"Did – did you hear?" He asked hesitantly and she nodded. Dread filled his very being, and he felt, for a second, like he couldn't breathe.

"Why," Her voice stuck and she coughed back the lump in her throat. "Why didn't you tell me before?" She asked, slowly, desperately, her green, green eyes staring deeply into his black ones.

"Would it have made any difference?" He asked weakly.

"Yes!" She cried and for one fleeting, naïve moment, his heart soared in his chest. But then she continued and he could practically hear his heart breaking in the silent corridor. "I would never had let you get so close to me if I did! I would never have told you my secrets, my ambitions, my thoughts! I would never had led you on if I knew."

"It wouldn't have mattered," He muttered and she closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath, preparing herself for everything that was about to come. "I knew you since we were ten, Lily, and I used to watch you every day, practicing your magic without knowing what it was that you could do. I got to tell you about it, I got to tell you about our world and its wonders, and I couldn't help not falling in love with you.

"You were so innocent and young and beautiful and ambitious, everything I was not. It wouldn't have mattered if you had let me in or not. It would have happened either ways."

"Since – since we were eleven," She repeated. "You can't have," She shook her head. "It's not possible." 

He laughed grimly. "You believed it when Potter told you," He accused, his eyes darkening further with hatred for the boy with messy hair. "He loved you since we were eleven as well. But – but not as much as I do.

"It's up to you, now, I suppose," He finished, looking away from her.

"I- I don't know what to say," She muttered, rubbing at her eyes.

"Just tell me what you feel," He demanded desperately and she looked up at him with the saddest green eyes he had ever seen and he already knew what she was about to tell him.

"I love him, Severus. Not you," Her voice was set and firm, but her eyes glittered with tears. She took a deep breath, "Goodbye, Severus. It – it's been… nice."

And then she was walking away again, leaving him sprawled out on the cold floor, and he could swear his heart had stopped beating.

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**-Fin-**

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**A/N:** I really fell in love with the idea of Lily and Severus' friendship. I hope you guys enjoyed Deathly Hallows. I know I did.


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